Blaze gazed at the ornately made, white door that stood where the bathroom door had been. Blaze looked at his surroundings, only to find it stranger and stranger with each object he took in. He wasn’t in the library’s bathroom, in fact, he wasn’t in a bathroom at all. Blaze deduced that this was a bedroom, partially because he could feel the soft cushiness of a luxurious bed below him, and also because of the room’s decor. Blaze slipped down from the bed and went towards the door, taking slow cautious steps, unsure of what was happening around him.
He tested the door, but found it was locked. Blaze flipped the doorknob’s lock and found no more resistance to his opening the door. If this had been somepony’s attempt at absconding with him, they had very poor security. But as he opened the door, he began hearing voices a short distance away. He actually had been hearing the low sound off mumbles passing back and forth from his bed, but only now he could confirm that they were indeed voices. Blaze took a few wary steps out the door and into a hallway. He looked to his right and saw stairs a little bit farther on. Blaze came out of the room and went ever closer to the sound of talking, which now was clearly coming from down the stairs.
“What are you saying, sir?” Blaze heard a stallion say in a voice racked with concern. Blaze inched closer and closer towards the stairs.
“When the caravan finally left the forest and all casualties were counted, your wife was not amongst the living, nor the bodies of the dead.” A deeper voice replied.
“Well… that’s good isn’t it? I mean, couldn’t it mean that she had just been separated from the group and is still making her way back here?” The first voice said, clearly reaching desperately for some hope.
“Even if she was, there have been three more attacks made by the changelings on the ponies. We regret to inform you that she is, undoubtedly… gone. I’m sorry, but Joy Eternal is hereby declared a casualty of war, a regretful one, but one none of the less.” The gruff stallion responded. “Her things are to arrive here within the week.”
“B-but... s-she can’t… possibly… she’s alive, I know it… she isn’t… isn’t…” The first stallion stammered, clearly losing his hold on all hope.
“I’m sorry, but she is dead, no matter what we say or do. Now I think I best leave. I have five more condolences to give to families in this area, and I believe my presence here is not helping in any way. Good day.” At that Blaze heard the opening and closing of a door. He continued for the stairs, hearing the slow, pained breathing coming from down the stairs, racked with sobs.
When Blaze reached the railing, he peeked down towards the pony below him. His coat was the one thing about him that caught Blaze’s attention, as its bright yellow made the room seem brighter, while the orange mane he had was a stark contrast.
Blaze wanted to stay upstairs, and get a better understanding of where he was, but he found himself inching towards the stairs. Fear shot through him as he attempted to stop, and found he kept taking steps. Blaze tried to use his horn to stop his progress, but found he wasn’t in control anymore. Blaze found himself completely at the mercy of his body.
“Dad… are you alright? What’s happening?” He heard somepony say near him, but in a second he realized it had come from his own mouth. Blaze sighed inwardly, now he knew he had no control at all. This day was getting better and better all the time. The stallion looked over towards Blaze.
“B-Blaze, come here, I need to tell you something.” Blaze would’ve cocked an eyebrow at that. How did this stallion he had never met know him… wait? Blaze recalled calling out to him, saying ‘dad’. True enough, now that he thought about it, this stallion was a picture perfect match for his father, but the he had no scars and the lack of grey strands in his mane convinced Blaze that his couldn’t be his father.
“What is it? Why are you crying?” Blaze heard his own mouth say. Now that he mentioned it, the stallion was indeed crying a bit. The stallion wiped a foreleg across his snout, catching up all of the tears. After a shutter, the stallion wrapped Blaze in an embrace. Now closer to a real way to compare his size, he realized that he was actually shorter than he really was. Before he had though it was because he was crouching down, but he now knew that he was indeed shorter than before.
“I… I got some bad news today.” Blaze felt his ears rise up. “Your… mom’s wagon train… was attacked halfway down the Whitetail trail. They think that she… she’s dead. The changelings… killed her.” Blaze felt the shape of the stallion shift out of the hug and towards the door.
“D-dad, where are you going?” Blaze heard his own mouth shout out as the stallion levitated a light jacket from its stand near the door.
“I-I going to make a difference. Nopony has a pet they need train right now, and I doubt there’ll be one for a while yet, and I can’t just sit around here any longer. It’s time to act; the enlistment office is two blocks down. Be good while I’m gone.” The stallion said, putting his day clothes on. “There’s beans on the stove, be sure to turn of the burner before you eat any, I don’t want to have the last meal I may have here to be burnt.” Blaze watched as the stallion shut the door, and as the thump of the door echoed in his ears, a flash of blinding light encompassed his entire vision.
Blaze opened his eyes again, this time in the lobby of the library, except it looked like he was seeing it through a purple filter. He suddenly realized that the color in his vision was Spike’s claws.
“Equestria to Blaze, do you read me Blaze?” He heard Spike says as his claws back and forth in his vision. Blaze took a step back and blinked a few more times. “Oh good, you’re back. What happened? You were walking around and talking to yourself like you were in a trance or something.” Blaze blinked a few more times, taking in a few deep breathes as he collected his thoughts.
“Alright, Spike, I think I got something that might help.” Blaze heard Twilight say as he came down the stairs with a book in her magic. “Let’s hope this works.” Twilight said, lowering the book slightly.
“Twilight, he’s back, we’re good.” Spike said stepping in front of Twilight. Twilight looked at Blaze, and then sighed in relief.
“Thank goodness. Blaze, we were worried about you, what happened? Why weren’t you responding?” Twilight said, and as she did, Blaze noticed a few small sores that he couldn’t account for.
“I-I’m not sure. I was in the bathroom, finishing up my bath, and then I got this weird sensation, and then I wasn’t in the bathroom, much less the library. I was in a bedroom of a fancy house, so I went out and…” Blaze trailed of, not sure how to explain it. “It was really weird. Like… like a memory, or a really vivid dream.” Twilight cocked her head at this.
“Well, one thing I can say. It reminded me of when Twilight took that potion that Zecora gave her a while back, except you were a bit more mobile.” Spike said with a shrug. Twilight glanced over at Spike, and then looked back towards Blaze.
“So… are you alright? Do you have any headaches or anything of that nature?” She said in a tone that sounded a bit more concerned that before.
“No, I feel fine. I’m just a tad confused about all this.” Blaze lifted his gaze from the floor, and looked at Twilight. “Do you think it might be a spell?” Twilight scratched her chin as she thought.
“I… don’t think so. It might be, but what would it accomplish? Casting a spell that would make you see and act out some… memory wouldn’t really do anything, unless the caster was hoping that they could stall you from doing something as fast as you would because you are trapped in… whatever it was.” Twilight said skeptically. At the words ‘they could stall you from doing something’, Blaze got a sneaking suspicion who might have casted it, and when he could meet him.
The hours past, and the ponies in the library slowing went into their beds. Spike fed Peewee the last treats from the phoenix treat bow, then hopped into his own bed, and closed his eyes, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Spike jumped of the platform and splashed into a bowl of some sweet liquid, which he quickly drank down greedily. Spike released a burp and patted his full stomach, and suddenly the bowl was filled again, as the liquid fell from a gigantic pitcher in the sky. Spike jumped out of the bowl and shook himself off. The dragon stretched his back, and then plucked a candy cane that grew from the ground and chomped down on it, letting the sweet flavor rush over his mouth.
As he reached to grab another candy cane ‘flower’ the world around suddenly went dark. Spike looked around at what had replaced his dreamscape. Suddenly an unseen mass swirled around him. Spike whirled around, but saw only the dark expanse.
“There is great strength here…” A deep voice rumbled around him. Spike looked all around him, but found only the black that surrounded him. “Such great potential, yet so unappreciated for what he truly is capable of.” The voice said again, causing Spike to turn around, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever it was. “I am honored to be remembered by one so…” The voice said as it continued to swirl around the darkness, “powerful.” The voice rumbled right beside his ear. Spike retracted quickly, but saw nothing.
“W-who o-or what are you?” Spike said, growing frantic. The darkness shifted again, and began to take a shape.
“I am…” The voice began, and then suddenly the world around him fell away.
Spike shot up, gasping for air. He looked all around him, looking for the mass of darkness, but found only the library’s bedroom. Twilight was beside him, looking rather worried.
“Spike, are you alright?” She said in a low voice. Spike took a few more breathes, and then nodded. “Good, you were thrashing in your sleep and I was worried.” Spike took a few deep breathes, and then plopped back into his bed.
“It was just a bad dream, but I okay now.” Spike rose up again and jumped out of his little bed. “I think I’ll get a glass of milk, though.” He said as he walked down the stairs towards the library’s kitchen.
Blaze trotted into the forest, making sure to keep to the path. Any happiness that he had the previous had left him, leaving him only with his anger for Flint, and as he took a turn in the path he nearly ran into said stallion.
“Hello, Blaze, I trust you’ve been well since we’ve last seen each other.” The stoic stallion said beneath the cover of the shadow cast by his hood.
“As well as I can be when somepony is keeping me from getting to my family. So, why are you keeping me away?” Blaze said, feeling more and more of the anger he had felt the last time he had seen Flint return. “And why did you make it so that you inconvenience other so much just to keep me from going?”
“I see you figured out that I was the one who delayed your departure. Well, to answer your question, I was because you would have gone if I hadn’t done such drastic measures. And besides, the ‘others’ you mentioned are still making it to their destination quite easily. There are inter-city coaches after all.” Blaze immediately started to think up a way to get on one and get towards Canterlot, but Flint must have seen, or guesses, what Blaze was thinking. “But I hear that those coaches can be quite… precarious, beside the fact that if they went down that the only remaining way to reach other cities without walking is then effectively removed.” Blaze gritted his teeth, Flint was too good. He had everything planned out to the letter it seemed.
“So, why are you keeping me here so ferociously?” Blaze said, trying to keep his temper in check as he spoke. The one thing he really wanted to do was to tackle the stallion and grind him into a pulp, but Blaze knew that that would cause some serious repercussions.
“I have several reasons to keep you hear, but I’ll just keep it down to two.” Blaze listened as he continued to restrain himself from clobbering the pony that stood in front of him. “One of the reasons you discovered fully yesterday.” Blaze’s anger suddenly dissipated, replaced by surprise and curiosity. “Three certain ponies live here, and I know that your relationship is fast growing. The thing you could use the most right now is friends, some ponies behind you, ready to give you a shoulder through the hard times. They are here for you, and you are here for them. Without you, I doubt that Half Pint would be up and about this morning, and I really doubt that Blizzard would let his sister play with the pony who, accidentally, nearly drowned her the day previous.”
“Wait… you know them?” Blaze said in astonishment.
“I’ve been watching you since two days ago. I had to make sure that you didn’t try to leave. And now the second reason. Two days ago you fought against a horde of timber wolves like it was nothing. You showed an aptitude for the blade that I find is rather rare, and I want to help you cultivate it as best as you can.”
“W-wait, your reason for keeping me here is to train me with the sword? How is that even a good reason to keep me from getting back with my family?” Blaze said, feeling his rage begin to build again.
“That is not the entire reason for keeping here, but it’s one of the few you can understand. The main reason is so complicated that you can’t possibly understand it in all your lifetime. But if you do not wish to allow me to train you in the way of the sword I’ll let you leave to your family.” Blaze blinked at Flint had just said. “And, yes you heard me right. If you don’t want to be trained in the sword then I will let you reunite with your family.”
“Sorry if I’m not catching on as quickly as you might like, but how is letting me return to my family incentive for keeping me here to train under you?” Blaze said, still having trouble to understand this new development.
“Quite simple as it sounds really. If you do not wish to train then you will be allowed to leave to return to your family. I will stop interfering with the train and flying carriages, and whichever one starts working first, you can leave on. You will then reunite with your family and continue your travels. But there is a price to pay for being liberated from my tutelage.” Blaze waited for the big reveal, the price that he could feel was crafted to keep him here. “You will never be allowed to return by any means. I way make sure that whenever you come close, that… inexplicable circumstances keep you from entering.” Blaze looked unsure at Flint. “You and your friends will never be together again, and I believe you will agree that your friendship is only beginning to grow. If you plan on leaving, you destroy your friendship in so doing, and if you were looking for the right time to do so, now is that time. Your friendship is barely started, so not much is lost if you leave now. So what is your choice, Blaze? Stay and train in the sword and grow your friendship, leave when I say it is wise and be granted the possibility of returning to see your friends, or leave now and stomp out any hope for friendship with these three ponies?” Blaze felt his rage continue to grow inside of him, but now it was diluted by worry, sadness, and many other emotions. Blaze looked down at the path below him, trying to figure out what to do.
Blaze looked up at Flint, who was still concealed under the shadow of his cloak. Blaze looked back down at the ground. He wanted to reunite with his family, but he also wanted to be with his newly found friends. Friends…, before this point he actually had never used the term in referring to another pony, not even the three ponies that he had begun to grow so close to.
“I-I…” Blaze tried to organize his thoughts in an order that could be put to words. Blaze then came to a conclusion. He had no way to know that his family had made it to Canterlot yet, so he could probably stay here until Flint allowed him go and still visit his friends. “I’ll stay here.” Flint nodded and unsheathed a sword and gave it to Blaze.
“The first lesson begins now.” Flint turned the handle towards Blaze. “Take it; you’ll need to practice with the real thing to get used to the weight of a true sword.” Blaze reached out with his magic and encompassed the whole blade. Suddenly it shot down to the ground, leaving only the handle above the ground. “First lesson, never wrap a sword completely in magic, only grab the handle. If you put your magic between your target and the edge of the blade, that is one more thing to dull the impact. Now take it the right way.” Blaze focused, and grabbed the handle of the blade and lifted it out of the ground.
“So now what, do we start sparring?” Blaze said as he inspected the blade. The pommel had an interesting design on it, sort of like a phoenix with wings speared.
“No, you need to have a firm grasp on the basics before we start having sparring matches. Before anything you need to have complete and total control over how your blade moves, and you’ll need to know the rules of a swordspony.” Flint said as he unsheathed his other blade. Blaze noticed it also had a design on the pommel, but this one was of a cloud whose top edge was glowing.
“Wait, swordsponies have rules now?” Blaze didn’t like how more and more things were being added on his shoulders, seeming to make his extended stay here even more extended.
“These are ancient laws, observed by all races who wield swords. The first rule you must observe is this: never let emotion be everything that is behind your blade. Emotions are as shaky as a building built on the tip of a pin, and they are especially dangerous for unicorns. As you found out, when you have an excess amount of a strong emotion, your magic changes you, removing all logical thought, leaving only raw, untamed magic and strong emotion to control how you act.” Flint looked off into the forest as he continued. “A long time ago a group of unicorn soldiers specialized in using this as a way to overcome all foes that faced them.”
“What happened to them?” Blaze asked, already sensing the answer that undoubtedly would come. Flint looked back at Blaze.
“For the longest time they had a streak of never leaving an objective uncompleted, but they let this get to their head. They became cocky, and in the end, during one of their rage induced powerhouse moments, they kill one of their own, causing their immediate disbanding.” Flint huffed, causing a whirl of steam to curl up into the cold forest air. “Later on it was their former leader who began the rules that now dictate how a swordspony should act. And he made sure that everypony else would know the dangers of tapping into the power of pure rage. He took extra make to make this clear.”
“Alright, so never let emotion be everything behind your blade; next rule.” Blaze said, hoping to speed his course on swordplay a bit.
“No, you need to practice putting this rule into use before we can go to next rule. It’s time for a training exercise in self control.”
Blaze walked cautiously through a deeper part of the forest, and as he slowly inched forward his leg snagged on a tripwire that had been under a pile of leaves. Blaze looked around him quickly, but found nothing. Blaze took a few steps, and then a log swung down and slammed into his side, sending him flying through the air, until his flight ended abruptly with him slamming into a tree. Blaze fell to the forest floor, not wanting to get up anytime soon.
“Remember, Blaze,” a voice shouted from the trees above, “Some traps can have delayed triggers. Just because nothing happens right away, doesn’t mean nothing will happen ever.” Blaze was starting to get annoyed at the traps, but Flint’s constant lesson teaching at the expense of his physical well being was the real icing on the cake.
Blaze poked his side, and to his relief, there were no signs of broken ribs on either of his side. But one thing Blaze knew for a fact, it was going to hurt in the morning. Blaze slowly got up and took maybe a dozen steps then felt the world slip out from underneath him. Blaze felt sick as he tried to figure out what happened, and then he felt the rope around his rear hoof. Blaze removed the blade from the sheath that was strapped to his side and cut the rope and fell back to the ground. As he landed, Blaze heard the something underneath him snap, and then he felt the ground give under him as he began to fall past the forest floor. Blaze raised himself from the bottom of the pit, and looked to the top of the hole.
“Some traps need something more than ordinary conditions to be set off. Just because you escaped from one trap doesn’t mean that there are no more.” Blaze huffed as he clambered up the side of the hole.
“Did you get put through this when you were becoming a swordspony?” Blaze shouted back up at the invisible Flint. Silence was all that he got in response. Blaze huffed again and raised the sword in front of him and began to walk forward, only to stop short. He could see the end of a tripwire poking up from the leaves, most likely disturbed by his fall. Blaze looked around him quickly, and then scanned the trees for any obvious object that would be attached to the tripwire.
Blaze closed his eyes while sheathing his sword and took a deep breath as he stretched out his magic. As he had hoped to do, the leaves lifted and were dumped in the pit. Sure enough, all around him were traps of plenty scattered about. The one thing that Blaze really marveled at was that Flint had only had been given a ten minute head start on this exercise. Blaze slowly walked back and lay down on the pile of leaves, finding that even with all these leaves and pieces of debris that the hole still had about an inch to the level of the ground around it. Blaze stretched out his magic and made a thick sheet that hovered above the area he had cleared out. With a surge of magic he slammed it down into the ground, activating all of the traps. Logs swung to and fro, pits caved in, ropes shot up, and other diverse assortments of traps sprung to life. Suddenly Flint landed beside Blaze and looked around the newly cleaned out forest.
“Good, you didn’t let your temper get the best of you, and because of that you saw the solution that had been in front of you the whole time. Now you’re ready for the final test for this rule.” Blaze looked over at the hooded stallion. “You will need to have a sparring match under these same conditions.”
“But I thought you said…” Flint raised his hoof for silence before Blaze could get any father.
“I meant that for a true sparring matches with real blades you will need more training, but I have acquired some wooden practice swords that we can use. This will not simulate entirely realistic battle, mostly because these practice tools aren’t exactly top notch supplies. They weren’t made to give you the feel for the weight, just the reach and shape of the weapon.” With that the blade in Blaze’s sheath was removed and replaced with a much lighter version of the same weapon. “I set up a clearing with various traps already, and the only rule is that you can’t lift the leaves to find where the traps are. You must win actually besting me under those conditions.”
Blaze’s eyes glared at the stallion before him. The stallion slowly lifted his wooden sword with a golden sheath of magic that wrapped around the handle. Blaze lifted his and crossed blades as Flint had shown him. Quickly, the two blades snapped back to the sides of their owners as they began to circle. Blaze constantly eyed the ground, trying this hardest to spot the traps while keeping an eye on his opponent.
Flint jerked forward, causing Blaze to jump back slightly while having his sword at the ready. But as he landed he jerked up into the air as the trap activated. Blaze quickly used his magic and teleported back to the ground in an instant. Unfortunately, it was an instant to late, as Flint, in a full on charge that dodged all the traps with expert precision, slammed his sword into Blaze’s side.
Blaze grunted and swung his blade at Flint, but was met only by a bit of Flint’s cloak. Flint swung his sword around and caught Blaze on the cheek, then the top of the head, then the chest, then his right foreleg, and then his back. Blaze fell to his knees as his sword clattered down to the ground and landed on a tripwire. Suddenly a log swung out, headed straight for Flint. Flint flew through the air, landing in a heap at the base of a tree.
Blaze quickly got to his hooves and lifted his sword, but soon regretted getting up so fast, as his body exploded in pain. Blaze gritted his teeth and blinked the tears that welled up in his eyes. Blaze watched as Flint met the tree legs first and pushed off it quickly.
Flint used the momentum to propel his charge, which quickly was made near impossible as the ground underneath him fell away, revealing a pitfall. Flint quickly jumped away and rolled to his hooves, but way met by a wooden sword across the face. Flint felt the blade strike him repeatedly as he tried to focus.
Blaze slammed his sword into Flint repeatedly, trying to suppress his rage with each strike, but found it harder to do so as with each strike his rage built and with every bit his rage built he had to strike once more. Flint suddenly swung his sword and caught Blaze’s horn, causing Blaze’s magic to dissipate, making his sword fall to the ground. Flint then slammed his sword into Blaze’s rear left leg, causing him to fall to his haunches as he gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut. Explosions flared across his body as Flint slammed his sword ever harder into Blaze. As an act of desperation, Blaze quickly formed a sheet of magic above Flint and slammed it down on the stallion, but found the sheet simply slipping around the hooded stallion.
“Blaze, hold on, do not give up. Never give up, no matter what.” The voice of Blaze’s father echoed in his ear. Suddenly strength surged through Blaze, akin to the power of the ‘Rage Shift’, save that instead of being shoved to the back for his emotions and magic to take control, his senses became sharper, keener on the details of his surroundings.
Blaze lifted his sword and slammed the pommel down into Flint’s head, causing the stallion’s magic to evaporate. Blaze then began smacking the stallion, pressuring him to take several steps back, all the closer to the noose that lay unassumingly on the ground, partially hidden by some grass. Suddenly Flint shot up with the rope, but as he flew up he disappeared in a flash, and landed squarely on Blaze’s shoulders. Blaze quickly dropped and rolled to the side. He quickly turned on his hooves and smashed his sword into Flint’s forelegs, causing the stallion to stumble. Flint lit his horn and shot a small beam of magic at Blaze, which the young colt easily dodged by twirling to the side.
“Rule number two: Use any and all advantages presented to you, no matter how dishonorable they may seem, for victory is still victory, even when dirty.” With that Flint began sending a flurry of beams at Blaze, most of which he dodged, while others still struck him, including one on his left side, on his right foreleg, his left hind leg, and his right cheek. Blaze prepared his own spell, and suddenly a band of fire began to whirl around Flint.
Flint jumped through the ethereal fire with an expression of determination that matched his opponents. Blaze shot a wisp of flame that struck Flint on the left hind leg, causing a few beads of blood to form from the previously closed wound. Flint shot a beam of magic, which went far left, striking a tree instead of its intended target. Blaze smacked the tripwire under Flint with his sword. Suddenly a log swung down at Flint. Without even looking at it, Flint shot the log with a beam of magical energy. Instead of a log striking him, his cloak was splashed with some ash.
Blaze noticed with some concern that Flint’s eyes flashed white for a moment, before a wisp of steam exited his hood. Suddenly Flint’s sword shot up towards Blaze, but Blaze quickly reacted, and lifted his sword and caught it before it could land. Blaze then shot a wisp of fire, which Flint shot down with a beam of magic.
Blaze shot another bolt of fire as he caught Flint’s next attack with his sword. With each bolt of fire Flint shot down, Blaze blocked another of Flint’s sword attacks, all the while both of the combatants avoid the traps they had just set off. Blaze shot a bolt of fire down at the ground below Flint, which was met by the same treatment of a beam of energy, except now the ground gave as the thin wooden planks below them gave way to the pitfall. Both of the fighters jumped back from the falling ground.
“Third rule…” Flint said as the dust settled. “Never give your opponent time to rest.” With that Flint’s sword caught Blaze on the throat. “No matter how much you might need it as well.” Flint said, emerging from the cloud of dust. Blaze gritted his teeth and slammed his blade across Flint’s head, then across his neck, then his back. Flint shot a bolt of energy which caught Blaze in the left side, causing Blaze to cringe and flatter a bit. Unfortunately, that was all that Flint needed as he charged Blaze.
Blaze threw up a magical blanket and shoved it into Flint’s legs, causing him to trip and land hard, but Flint quickly tucked into a roll and got back to his hooves. Blaze swung his sword at Flint’s head, but Flint caught the blow expertly with his own blade. Blaze shot a bolt of fire into Flint’s face, but the stallion didn’t flinch as his hood was blow back, revealing his piercing blue eyes that glared holes into Blaze. Blaze covered those eyes with a band of fire. The colt then spun around on his hooves and delivered a buck to the stallion’s chest, causing Flint to stagger back into the pit.
Flint slowly climbed over the edge and lifted his sword and prepared to strike Blaze, but suddenly he fell down gasping for air as his sword clattered down to the ground. Blaze took a step back, and then rushed over to the fallen stallion’s side. Blaze looked the stallion over, and found that the forest floor was wet with a red substance behind the stallion. Blaze threw the part of Flint’s cloak that covered his hind legs back and found the bite mark from the timber wolf had reopened and was setting blood free from its prison inside Flint’s body.
“Is the fourth rule to make sure you never have too much blood inside of you?” Blaze said as he looked around for something he could use to help Flint.
“T-the fourth rule is to never let yourself be captured. Always… fight to the end, because t-there is no honor in causing your allies to… have to set you free.” Blaze looked at the stallion skeptically. “The fifth rule… is to always show… m-mercy to those who ask for it… b-because… it… distracts their allies, making them… have to set them free.” Blaze shook his head as he stood up. “Maybe… the sixth can be t-that one.” Flint said with a small smile; Blaze chuckled slightly.
“Alright, well, can you stand? I need to get you to Ponyville medical.” Blaze said, still trying to find something that he could use to at least stop the blood loss.
“No, I’ll be fine. You got yourself to worry about. Your assignment for next time is to see if you can get Rarity to teach you how to focus on multiple objects as well as your surroundings.” Flint said as he lifted himself.
“Uh… who’s Rarity? I don’t think I’ve met her yet.” Blaze said, watching Flint’s leg, making sure that it didn’t get any worse.
“Rarity is Ponyville’s dress maker, and a good friend of Twilight’s. You could ask Twilight if she knows anypony who can teach you how to do that technique, she’ll probably direct you to either a book or Rarity. Next training session is two days from now; meet me on the path again.” With that Flint’s horn glowed, and with a flash, Blaze found himself on the path into the Everfree. Blaze shook his head and walked back towards Ponyville.